Lunar surface - Sputtering and secondary ion mass spectrometry

Abstract

Laboratory and Apollo observations are combined to describe the sputtering of the lunar surface and the composition of the ejecta with special reference to O. The atmospheric inventory appears to be dominated by micrometeorite vaporization of lunar grains. Sputtering effects are observable in the local plasma due to ion ejection, in the extended atmosphere through energetic neutral ejection, and on grain surfaces through the chemical fractionation of the redoposited sputter-ejecta. Ionization of the micrometeorite-vapor also contributes to the local plasma.